VERONA TRIAL

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 79, 13 January 1944, Page 5

VERONA TRIAL

CIANO’S SUMMARY EXECUTION DETAILS FROM ROME RADIO • DEATH SENTENCE ON FORMER FASCIST OFFICIALS London, Jan. 11 The summary execution of Count Ciano after a brief trial by a Fascist Court at Verona came as a surprise in London, where the dramatic close to the career of this once spectacular Foreign Minister is regarded as one of the historically outstanding events of the war. The court sat for four hours behind closed doors before pronouncing the sentence. Details of the trial and the execution are very sparse. They come mostly from Rome radio, which stated : “Tht death sentence was carried out b 3 shooting, against five of the 18 sentencec to death, at 9.20 a.m. to-day. Five re • ceived religious assistance from the i prison chaplain and a Franciscar t Friar. Ciano, before being sentenced j said‘l may have made a mistake, bui don’t accuse me of treason.’ The trial r which opened on Bth January, lastec . three days. The indicted 19 were aci cused with treason, aiding the enemy t betraying the ideals of Fascism, att tempting to jeopardise the operation: . of the country’s armed forces and the 5 country’s resistance and independence I: Aldo Vecchini presided over the couri , which was composed of seven mem- » bers.” t Another Rome radio broadcast stated that Signor Scorzia, ex-secretary o: , the Fascist Party, was one of the wit- ! nesses. The radio added “Ciano also said tc , the court that he would never have , signed the decree calling for Mussolini’s ; resignation had he foreseen the consequences. Ciano added that he askec . Marshal Badoglio for a passport foi » himself and family. Badoglio replied [ that King Victor Emmanuel had in- , structed him that Ciano should remair ■ at his post in the Holy See, where he • would be safe. Asked why he had nol told Mussolini how things were, Cianc answered that since he was no longei Foreign Minister he was no longer in a position easily to approach the head ol ■ the Government.” Marshal de Bono, according to Rome r radio, declared to the court that he : knew nothing about politics and did i not grasp the significance of Count Grandi’s order calling the last meeting ' of the Fascist Grand Council. De Bone ■ also denied that he maintained contacl l with the King. Cianetti proclaimed he was still a Fascist. He agreed with Count Grandi’s order because he r thought such a move would shift the i responsibility for the war from the Duce to the King. The Attorney-General exhorted the court to pass a sentence which would re-establish the morale and order broken by the action of the Fascist , Grand Council. he German news agency stated that although the Attorney-General demanded the death sentence against 19 accused, 13 of them were charged in absentia ■ J nl Y 18 were actually sentenced tc l death, the nineteenth, Cianetti, beins [ sentenced to 30 years’ penal servitude ATTEMPTS TO SAVE CIANO London, Jan. 11 i . Reports from “Daily Telegraph” anc Daily Express” correspondents on the • Italian frontier say that many influen ; tial Persons intervened in an attempt t c [ save Ciano. Even Germans are statec > to have made representations. Ciano’s : wife, Countess Edda, and their children were present in Verona during the trial : She appealed to Mussolini for a post- ■ ponement of the trial, but” Mussolini is ! reported to have replied that the mattei ■ was out of his hands. It is recalled that at the meeting ol i the Fascist Grand Council which turnec • out Mussolini, de Bon 0 pulled out his - revolver and waved it at Mussolini : Ciano did not take part in the discusi sion, but was one of those who voted against Mussolini, who at one part ol ; the meeting had pointed to Ciano anc i shouted: “From the moment this mar s entered my house he betrayed me.” As he left the meeting Ciano is reported to have commented: “He has at lasi got what he deserved.” “The so-called trial and its swift • sequel add a fitting footnote to the de- ' mise of the Fascist regime,” says “The Times in an editorial. “The Verona tria bunal’s death sentences were less ar ' act of retribution than a display of re venge by an embittered, disappointed a faction. Even so, it is mainly a Ger- ' man revenge. If personal malice had nol moved the Germans to this act it woulc l have been difficult to understand whj - Nazism at the moment should have chosen to narrow the field in which it might have hoped for such suppori as the remnants 0 f Fascism could give.’